This invention relates to garage doors for closing the large opening in garages, shops or other areas of activity, and in particular to such doors of a foraminous nature, for closure of the large opening of a structure of the type found in residential, commercial or industrial areas, while permitting air circulation through the door.
It is sometimes desirable to permit entry of light, and free air circulation, into and through a building such as a garage, shop or other activity area such as when activities are planned to be had therein. In some areas of the country, however, insects and other pests make it uncomfortable to simply open the existing door and leave it open to admit light and air. In addition, it may be desirable to permit pets and children play or exercise in the building while restraining them from leaving. Therefore it is clear that there is a need for a foraminous closure member which can be quickly and easily placed in front of the large door opening when the main door itself is opened, and later just as quickly and easily removed. Multipurpose usage of existing buildings provide distinct advantages to users.
Certain door structures have been proposed in the past to answer this need. For instance, in Stansberry, U.S. Pat. No. 3,178,776, there is disclosed a system of interchangeable panels in the main garage door, some of which panels are screened or foraminous. The patent to Church, U.S. Pat. No. 4,141,403, shows a "jalousie" arrangement, wherein several of the door panels of the garage main door are pivoted outward, with screened panels behind, to admit air. To add either of these structures to an existing garage, however, requires the entire removal and replacement of the existing main garage door.
In another example, Sorenson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,378,043 proposes a foraminous panel to be pivotably attached to the bottom of the main garage door, for permitting a limited amount of air circulation. Because of its position at the bottom of the doorway, though, its admittance of air is minimal and its admittance of light is even less.
The Antinone patent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,763,917, shows a screen member attached across the entire main garage door opening. While this may be satisfactory for some applications, it may be desirable to have a more permanent installation of the screening member.
Such permanence would require the screening member to be retractable, however, so that the main, solid garage door would still be available for use. Such a permanently attached, retractable screening member is shown in Gaschen, U.S. Pat. No. 3,103,967. In that structure, similar to a conventional garage door, the screened door is provided in the form of articulated frames, running along a track. The track of that structure, however, is disclosed to be installed between the existing track of the main garage door and the doorway. This is a big job, and the result is that the installation of that structure outside of the ability of the average homeowner. A building or carpentry contractor would have to be employed. Further, use by a renter is also substantially precluded. What is needed is a relatively permanently installed screen-type door to be installed by any homeowner or renter so that it may be easily and quickly slid into place and just as easily and quickly out of the way of the main large door.
This invention relates to improvements to the structure set forth above and to solutions to the problems raised or not solved thereby.